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Madonna changes her name to Esther thanks to Kaballah (Go To Top)

         London: The Material Girl has new name now and the inspiration behind it is her fetish with Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah. According to the Daily Mail, Madonna wants to now be called as Esther, a Hebrew name. "I was named after my mother. My mother died when she was very young, of cancer, and I wanted to attach myself to another name. This is in no way a negation of who my mother is. I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name," she was quoted as saying on an interview on the ABC News 20/20 programme.

Harry Potter's mission is to make kids meek, mild and obedient (Go To Top)

          Sydney: Fantasy stories for children side more with the parents than with the kids for whom they are written. Natasha Giardina who is completing a PhD at James Cook University at Cairns found that most of the children books' authors try to propagate the notion that it is always the adults who know the best and children should always be in awe of them. According to News.com , Giardina examined eight children's fantasy fiction stories written from 1900 to 1997 including JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L Frank Baum. "On the surface the text seems to say, 'Look kids! This is your culture. We're on your side, especially against adult authority figures'," Giardina was quoted as saying. "But a closer analysis demonstrates that the writer is merely using this strategy to sell adult ideas such as: 'adults know best', and, 'parents are a source of security when things get tough'," she explained.

          She said that all these books have an underlying theme that children should be meek, mild and obedient to the wishes of good sensible adults. They show childhood as a disability which the children are striving to overcome rather than portray it as a development phase for kids. Giardina said that author Philip Pullman had tried to break the mould in his 1995 book 'Northern'Lights wherein a child who finds that her parents are not necessarily benevolent and she must make her own way in the world without relying on others to pave a path for her. However she admits that the huge popularity of the fantasy books reflects that we are far from accepting this independent nature of childhood as shown by Pullman.

Clemence Poesy is playing dangerous games with Harry Potter (Go To Top)

          Los Angeles: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" will see Clemence Poesy rub shoulders with Harry Potter. According to zap2it, the French actress has won the part of Fleur Delacour in the fourth instalment of the 'Harry Potter' films. The 21-year-old Parisian actress will play Delacour, a student at the French wizard school who competes against Harry and two other students, Cedric Diggory and Viktor Krum, in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament. The movie marks a turning point for Harry who meets with the evil Death Eaters, experiences his first crush and witnesses the death of a friend.

Lennon's last signature up for sale for 230,000 dollars (Go To Top)

          Sydney: Beatles icon John Lennon won't ever know it, but his last signature just minutes before he was assassinated outside his apartment is on the auction block for 230,000 dollars. According to a news.com report from New York, Lennon's last autograph will be one of the highlights of the "Rock Legends Live" auction appearing on the eBay Internet site run by Cooper Owen, the film and rock specialist auctioneers. Ribeah Vincent, a switchboard operator at the Record Plant Studios in New York, managed got Lennon to sign his autograph at 10.25 pm on December 8, 1980. Half an hour later, Lennon was shot dead by Mark Chapman as he was returning to his apartment building.

Any takers for Sir Elton John's glasses?  (Go To Top)

          London: Sir Elton John is holding an auction that is one of its kind. 'The Candle in the Wind' singer is going to auction off his massive collection of spectacles. According to The Sun, Elton has been suffering from short- sightedness for years and only got his vision rectified last year. "They're not much use to me now. I have just had implants - not laser surgery - in my eyes so I've got 20/20 vision now. All the other glasses are just sitting there. I feel another auction coming on," he was quoted as saying.

Nicole Kidman dumped Lenny Kravitz to win back Tom Cruise (Go To Top)

          Washington: Old flames die hard. Especially, when it involves the likes of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. According to Teen Hollywood, Kidman reportedly left her lover Lenny Kravitz when ex-husband Tom Cruise became single again to rekindle her romance with Cruise. According to The News of the World, the Oscar-winning actress still pines for Cruise and got a fresh lease of hope when he split from Penelope Cruz in January. "Nicole refused to commit to the relationship because she was sure Tom would come back to her. Lenny was madly in love and wanted to get married. He's a marrying kind of guy - he was married to Lisa Bonet for six years and wanted to do it again. He thought they could combine their families," a source was quoted as saying. "Lenny's a confident guy and was sure that if he was patient he could make Nicole forget all about Tom. But nothing has swayed her. She couldn't seem to get Tom off her mind," the source added.

Swiss 'Prick It Like Beckham' to jinx Brits (Go To Top)

          London: In order to put a jinx on the British soccer team, Swiss newspapers are now offering their readers a cut-out voodoo doll of an England player. According to Ananova, the papers hope that by torturing the voodoo doll, their readers will be able to put a jinx on the English football team ahead of their Euro 2004 clash. The caption on the cutout that has a resemblance to captain David Beckham reads: "Help give England heavy legs on June 17. Let's all rip this page out, pin it on the wall and stick in nails, needles and staples. If we believe it will work, then it will." The cut out has been reproduced in hundreds of Swiss magazines and newspapers in three languages. Twelve Swiss ad agencies have also joined the campaign to get this message across.

Clinton had an affair with Lewinsky simply because he could (Go To Top)

          Sydney: Former US president Bill Clinton has finally spilled beans on his affair with Monica Lewinsky. According to news.com, in an interview to the American CBS television network, Clinton admitted that he conducted his affair with Monica Lewinsky simply "because he could". When the host Dan Rather asked Clinton why he had the affair, he gave a very astonishing reply. "I think I did something for the worst possible reason - just because I could," Clinton was quoted as saying. "I think that's the most, just about the most morally indefensible reason that anybody could have for doing anything. When you do something just because you could," he added. Clinton said that any sort of sophisticated, complex psychological explanations cannot be an excuse for his decision. "I've thought about it a lot, and there are lots of more sophisticated explanations, more complicated psychological explanations. But none of them are an excuse," he said. Bill Clinton's infamous "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky hit the headlines in 1998 after a sexual harassment case was brought against him by another ex- employee Paula Jones. In the interview, Clinton also admitted that these revelations severly affected his relationship with his wife Hillary. He said that both of them took counselling sessions to overcome the tension between them. "We'd take a day, a week, and we did - a whole day, a week, every week, for a year, maybe a little more - and did counselling," Clinton said. "We did it together. We did it individually. We did family work," he added.

Tina Turner is 'Shakti' personified for South Asian women (Go To Top)

          London: She might have questioned 'What's love got to do it' but apparently it is Tina Turner's feminist traits that have made her a popular choice among South Asian women. According to the New York Daily News, Sakhi, a women's group, believes that she has already shown her healing power to thousands of victims of violence by refusing to bear the beatings of her ex-husband Ike, and hence is suited for the role. Turner is to be honoured at a Sakhi fundraiser later this year. Keeping up the Indian connection, Merchant and Ivory have requested classical dancer Aparna Vaidyanathan to attend the annual benefit for their arts foundation at the film team's enchanting Columbia County estate.

Penelope Cruz is smitten by Mathew McConaughey (Go To Top)

          Washington: Hollywood beauty Penelope Cruz finally seems to have gotten over her ill-fated love affair with Tom Cruise. According to IMDb, the "Women on Top" actress was recently spotted enjoying a meal with Mathew McConaughey, who she is rumored to be dating. The couple got together with 15 other friends at Washington's famous Da Marios restaurant and shared pizzas, pasta and drinks. After whipping up a bill of 500 dollars, the duo left a tip of 200 dollars for the staff. "Penelope and Matthew turned up with their friends at around 11pm and the restaurant stayed open till two. They looked really smitten. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. Penelope certainly didn't look as if she still had feelings for Tom," The daily Mirror quoted an onlooker as saying.

After 11 No.1 singles, Ginger Spice takes music lessons (Go To Top)

          London: Former Spice Girl ,Geri Harriwell has now decided to take singing lessons. According to The Sun, despite selling 40 million albums and having 11 No 1 singles to her credit, a lack of vocal talent never bothered her before. Popularly known as Ginger Spice, Hariwell is being taught by top voice coach Penny Davis who works with the National Theatre in London. "Geri is loving getting professional help.It has made such a huge difference to her voice. She had nodules on her throat, a condition which can be painful and affects singing. She recently had an operation to remove them," a friend was quoted as saying. "Since starting the lessons, she thinks she's found new tones to her voice. She's really excited about her new album and is proud of the new songs," another pal added.